Eau de Vie

Zuursalon 4: Lubberhuizen & Raaff, Geurt van Rennes, Jan-Martin Caminada, Biospirits, and Leslie Dronkers

7 Feb 2016

Craft distillers and bon vivant, you are cordially invited to an appetising Sunday afternoon where we will taste and debate the craft and controversies surrounding the ’Water of Life.’ We’ll discuss traditional production methods, copper brazing, excise duty and the AOC (Appellation Origine Controlée) with award winning distillery Lubberhuizen & Raaff, Eau de Vie master Geurt van Rennes, Jan-Martin Caminada and biological distillery Biospirits.

Tickets / Facebook
Hosted by Leslier Dronkers. Please note the Zuursalon will be held in Dutch.

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Lubberhuizen & Raaff and their apples - Preparing for the creation of their Eau de Vie

Speakers

Henk Raaff from Lubberhuizen & Raaff

Lubberhuizen & Raaff is a Dutch distillery, located in an old fire station in Varik. The distillery is the only one in the Netherlands that ferments freshly picked, fully ripe fruit from the Betuwe. They distill the fruit very carefully and professionally, bottling the Eau de Vie after ageing it in carboys or barrels. Lubberhuizen & Raaff produce around 3000 bottles of Eau de Vie a year. Their distillery has won numerous awards, such as the ‘Edelbrand des Jahres.’ It is the first time that a Dutch distillery has been granted this honour.

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Distillery of Lubberhuizen and Raaff - Henk Raaff; Spreker van de zuursalon eau-de-vie

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Henk Raaff talks about distillery Lubberhuizen & Raaff at Zuursalon: Eau de Vie. - Mediamatic Foundation

With: Henk Raaff

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Eau de Vie - Geurt van Rennes explains the technical processes behind winemaking and fermentation Julia ter Maten

Geurt van Rennes

Besides viticulture Geurt van Rennes is also passionate about distilling Eau de Vie. He learned the trade from the best distillers. The craft, however, is slowly disappearing, after having been part of the Dutch culture for hundreds of years. Van Rennis decided to share his knowledge and started a distiller training program in 2015, which is currently the only education program for this in the Netherlands. At the Zuursalon he will enlightens us on the technical sides of winemaking/fermentation, for example with calvados (it is an Eau de Vie!). He will also explain the distillation in a chemical way.

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Distillate set up for making Eau de Vie - All you need to make your favourite eau te vie. Geurt van Rennes

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Tasting Eau de Vie - Tasting glasses of Betuwer Pruim from Lubberhuizen & Raaff are lined up and prepared to be tasted by the public Julia ter Maten

Jan-Martin Caminada

Jan-Martin is an interior builder with extensive knowledge about silver soldering. He will bring some examples of his work, which he will present together with Zuur curator and host Leslie Dronkers.

Biospirits

Biospirits is a biological distillery that only uses organically grown and certified raw materials. Biospirits produce Eau de Vie as well as whiskeys. They are most proud of their computer-controlled fractionation, which can burn the maximum possible alcohol content in this atmosphere. We will discuss in the Zuursalon why there are so little biological distilleries, despite the booming liquor business.

Eau de Vie

Eau de Vie refers to a clear, colourless distillate which is made from fruits, rather than grapes. It’s flavour and ingredients differ from region to region. The Hungarian Palinka for instance is mostly made from plums, while Italian Grappa comes from distilled skins, pulp, seeds, and stems left over from winemaking, after the grapes have been pressed. The French Calvados, however, is made from apples, and the Poire Williams from Williams Pear.

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Crates of Apples - Soon, this apples will be distilled into delicious Eau de Vie.

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Tasting Eau de Vie - Samples of Eau de Vie were poured and tasted by the public Julia ter Maten

Zuursalon

The human-microbial superorganism is a vast ecological system, subject to the same rules of resistance, resilience, and balance as any other ecosystem on the planet. The sooner you learn to tend your microbial garden, the sooner you will understand how human ecology and your health is nothing more than understanding our history and place in the larger biosphere.

Information

Zuursalon: Eau de Vie
Tastings and talks
Sunday February 7 17:00
Tickets: Pre-sale €10,- / Door: €12,50

Please note that the Zuursalon will be held in Dutch!